On 2018-11-18 5:19 PM, Ed Minch wrote:
> I attended a finishing lecture put on by Don Williams (retired Smithsonian
finishes curator, Jeff).  He has long been known as the shellac guy, but what he
said was most furniture of the 18th century was treated with plain wax.  The
shellac and varnish finishes we see today on utilitarian antiques was probably
put on later.  So anybody use just wax?
>
> Ed Minch

Krenov did.

As for shellac as finish, I suspect there will have been regional 
differences. The Wikipedia entry indicates shellac was in use as a 
furniture polish as early as the 1500s. It cites an article from the 
/Journal of the American Institute of Conservation/ which describes the 
use of infrared spectrometry to identify a shellac coating on a 
16th-century cassone ( Italian marriage chest, Jeff ).  I can imagine it 
was something the Venetians came upon in their travels. As to when it 
came into popular/common usage, I have nothing to add.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellac

Don

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